Mulch bags to cubic yards calculator.

Worked example

One cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, so it holds 27 / 2 = 13.5 bags of 2 cu ft. A 200 sq ft bed at 3 in. deep needs 200 x 3 / 12 = 50 cu ft, which is 1.85 cubic yards or 25 bags. One 2 cu ft bag covers 2 x 12 / 3 = 8 sq ft at 3 in. deep, and 20 bags cover 160 sq ft.

Method and sources

Formulas: volume (cu ft) = area (sq ft) × depth (in.) / 12; cubic yards = cubic feet / 27; bags = ceil(cubic feet / bag size); coverage of V cu ft at depth d in. = V × 12 / d sq ft; 1 cu yd = 0.764555 cu m. The unit relationships (27 cubic feet = 1 cubic yard, 1,728 cubic inches = 1 cubic foot, 1 cubic yard = 0.764 554 857 984 cubic metres) are from NIST Handbook 44, Appendix C, General Tables of Units of Measurement (retrieved 2026-10). Limits: bag sizes are printed on each bag and vary by product, so enter yours. No compaction or settling adjustment is applied. The general mulch and topsoil calculator also handles plain area-and-depth jobs.

FAQ

How many bags of mulch are in a cubic yard?

A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet: 13.5 bags of 2 cu ft, 9 bags of 3 cu ft, 27 bags of 1 cu ft.

How many bags of mulch do I need?

Multiply the bed area in square feet by the depth in inches, divide by 12 for cubic feet, then divide by the bag size and round up.

How far does one bag of mulch go?

Bag size x 12 / depth in inches. A 2 cu ft bag covers 8 sq ft at 3 in. deep or 12 sq ft at 2 in.

Is bulk cheaper than bags?

That depends on local prices and delivery. Convert both quotes to price per cubic yard (bags: price per bag x 27 / bag size) to compare them.